


Stay

by Konfessor2U



Series: The Sharpest Lives [2]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Edward tries to help, M/M, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, trigger - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-23
Updated: 2014-02-23
Packaged: 2018-01-13 12:35:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1226503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Konfessor2U/pseuds/Konfessor2U
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Continuation of my fic "The Sharpest Lives".</p><p>Loosely based on "Stay" by Rhianna, even though I don't particularly like her. It was suggested by a reader. :)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. It's Not Much of a Life You're Livin'

He had only been awake for a fraction of a second, and already Roy was regretting making the bold statement that yesterday was the first time he woke up without a hangover. The mind searing pain of his current headache was stabbing tiny perforations in his words, mocking them as it pulsated through his skull. He silently thanked the sun for still being set. The clock read 3 am. His mouth was sticky and dry; it felt like dry cotton wool had soaked up all of his saliva and he hated how it left his gums feeling tacky. His hands were shaky and he felt unsteady as he stood from the bed, leaving his blonde lover tucked snugly under the blankets.

Roy pulled his white cotton shirt away from his clammy, sweat-soaked skin as he slowly made his way down the hall. Flipping on the lights, he took one look at the state that his apartment was in and groaned loudly. The sight of all the empty bottles stirred an immense feeling of anxiety in him and he dragged himself to the sink to get a glass of water to clear his head.

After chugging an entire glass, Roy remained leaning over the sink, a hand on each of the edges, staring down into the drain. He was so out of it that he didn't hear Edward come into the room and he nearly jumped a mile high when the blond quietly slipped his arms around his waist from behind. He recovered quickly from his sudden shock and relaxed into Edward's arms, leaning back into him and laying his hands over Edward's mismatched ones on his chest.

"What are you doing up this early?" Ed mumbled lazily with his face pressed to Roy's shoulder.

Roy turned around in Ed's arms to face him and pulled the man in close. "I woke with a terrible headache and I feel dreadful." Despite how uncomfortable he was, he had to smile at Edward, who was squinting his eyes against the bright kitchen light, his long blond hair looking a complete mess.

Edward snuggled into his chest and heaved a tired sigh. "Maybe take a cold shower and try coming back to bed? Take some pain meds too; they'll help your headache." He pulled away from Roy and shuffled down the hall to the bathroom and proceeded to dig through the medicine cabinet. Ed came back through the hall and tossed a pill bottle to Roy before turning away to return to the bedroom. He coyly turned back to his lover and smiled innocently, pushing his bangs behind his ear. "Please come back to bed with me." Roy only nodded with a ghost of a smile.

When he heard the bedroom door close, he took two pills from the bottle and swallowed them with a mouthful of water. He stood leaning back against the counter and surveyed the room, feeling that familiar anxiety settle in again. Crossing his arms over his chest, he pushed off from the counter and walked into the living room to evaluate the mess in there. He was baffled by the amount and variety of empty alcohol bottles in his house.

He bent to pick up a light green bottle which still held a few centimeters of some sort of alcohol; he couldn't remember what it was supposed to be since the label had been peeled off. Roy held the bottle up to eye level watched the liquid gently slosh around. His stomach did a tiny flip as he realized he couldn't remember buying all of this alcohol, let alone drinking it. This made him feel even more anxious.

With a low grumble, Roy stalked off to the bathroom with the bottle, turning off the lights as he went. Locking the door behind him, he set the bottle on the edge of the sink and started a hot shower. Roy couldn't wait to wash off the cold sweat he woke up with and he hoped to shake the intense headache that was ravaging his brain. He removed all of his clothing and stared back at his reflection. His skin was pale and grey and the bags under his eyes were dark and drooping.

Without even thinking, Roy lifted the bottle to his lips and tipped his head back. He swallowed two large gulps of the burning liquid before he actually realized what he was doing. Coughing, he spit up what remained in his mouth and slammed the bottle down on the bathroom vanity.  _Shit!_   _What the hell am I doing?_  His eyes shot nervously to the bathroom door and he froze, listening to see if he had disturbed Edward. He waited for a few minutes, hoping to hear nothing and when he didn't hear a sound, he concluded that Ed slept through pretty much anything.

He stepped into the shower and the hot water rushed over his face as he ran his hands through midnight black hair. He played over what just happened in his head over and over again, but for all of that, he couldn't remember consciously thinking, "I am going to drink this now." His body just did it. Roy cleared his throat at the memory of the alcohol going down so easily not just five minutes ago. He hated the fact that the saying, "old habits die hard" was 100% true. He knew it to be true. Whenever he was overwhelmed by the thought of forgoing the bottle, the anxiety caused by quitting made him want to take another sip. This time he chose not to.

He sighed heavily and sank down to the floor of the shower, tucking his legs up and resting his head on his knees. He knew now that changing his lifestyle was going to be more difficult than ever. It was more than just making the decision; he needed to make a conscious effort to avoid alcohol. Roy had more than just himself to think about. He realized that he wanted to be clean for not only himself, but for Edward and the rest of his friends. He owed them all a massive apology for acting that way he had been for the past few months.  _I'm surprised that they are still hanging around me,_ he thought sourly.

After a good long while, Roy began to feel a bit dizzy from the hot steam accumulating in the bathroom. This paired with his already shaky form made for a horrible combination. He stood from the shower floor a bit too quickly and the dizziness was too much to handle. His vision went black as he fell back to the floor, pulling the shower curtain down as he went. The hot water soon ran cold as it pattered on the tile floor around his unconscious body.


	2. Round and Around

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roy has to start over.

_It's raining out,_  he thought as he rolled over in bed. The pitter patter of the water drops lulled Edward back to a light, peaceful sleep. The fact that it was winter and the rain he was hearing should have been softly falling snow never crossed his mind. Ed cracked open a dry, sleepy eye to peak out at the window where the early morning light was just beginning to filter through.

 _It's clear out._ He scrunched his eyebrows together as the realization came about that his last two thoughts didn't coincide. Ed sat up in bed while thinking of the possibility of having down pour rain and a bright clear sky at the same time. Now that he was upright, he could tell that the sound of the water wasn't coming from outside but from down the hall.  _Maybe Roy decided to get up early and shower before work._ He snatched up his pocket watch from the nightstand as he stood.  _6:30 am._

Edward made his way down the hall and noticed that the bathroom light was on and the shower was indeed running. "Roy?" he called out from just outside the bathroom door. When there was no answer, he pushed open the door and immediately he saw the liquor bottle on the counter next to the sink.  _Almost empty_ , he scowled. Ed instantly became hot with anger that Roy had resorted to the bottle when he could have just asked for help.  _I was right down the hall_ , he thought.

When he looked over to the shower, his heart stopped. Roy was laid out on his side facing the wall, the white shower curtain draped over him. The now freezing cold water was raining down on him. Ed rushed over, turned the water off and cradled Roy's head in his lap, pushing cold, wet bangs out of his face. He noticed a small trail of blood running from where Roy's head had fallen to the drain. After quickly examining his lover's face, he concluded that the blood was flowing from Roy's nose.

"Roy, wake up!" Edward yelled worriedly, even though he was less than six inches from the man's face. He lightly slapped his flesh hand against a cold, wet cheek. Roy was shivering all over when he finally opened his eyes. He coughed to clear his throat and reached a hand up to grasp Edward's arm.

"Edward," he whispered weakly. "I woke up a while ago but was too tired to move." His tired eyes drooped again and his teeth proceeded to chatter.

"Shit, Roy. You are freezing and you are bleeding. Can you stand up?" Edward had dragged Roy to bed once and he wasn't up for doing it again anytime soon. Roy nodded and made an attempt to sit up. "Come on." With an arm around Roy's waist, he hoisted him up to stand. Roy's body was bitingly cold to the touch and the wet skin against Ed's white t-shirt soaked him through, giving him a chill. Ed helped him along the hallway to the bedroom, grabbing a few towels from the linen closet upon passing it.

Roy stood shivering while Ed wiped him dry with a fluffy blue towel, his eyes closed. Ed used another smaller towel to roughly dry Roy's shaggy black hair before clapping his hands together using alchemy to dry it completely. He went about the room collecting clean, dry clothes and found a pair of boxers and a sweat suit in a drawer. Without asking Roy to do it himself, Ed started to dress the man. Roy didn't object verbally, he only flinched a bit when the fabric rubbed on his cold, sensitive skin.

"Get into bed," Ed ordered, while dialing a number on the phone next to the bed. Roy obliged collapsing into the still warm sheets of his bed. The blonde draped the sheet and quilt over him and spoke softly into the receiver. "Hi, it's me. Roy won't be making it into work today." He paused listening and slapping Roy's hands away from trying to get the phone from him. "Yes, I'll try and make sure he is in tomorrow. Thanks, Hawkeye."

Edward hung up and climbed into bed snuggling Roy close to his chest, allowing his own body warmth to warm him. His hands rubbed soothingly up and down Roy's back trying to bring life to his frozen skin.

Roy winced at the touches, his skin still hypersensitive, but he welcomed it. He shut his eyes tight as the pounding headache from earlier hadn't subsided. The question that he knew he would have to answer eventually came sooner than he expected.

"What happened?" Ed whispered, warm lips pressed to the top of Roy's head.

Roy sighed, "I took the medicine you gave me. I also took a sip of alcohol, gin I think." He stopped to think about what he did next. "I got into the shower, the water was really hot. I was sitting on the floor just hoping that my headache would go away. I started to feel flush and a little dizzy from the steam. The last thing I remember was trying to stand up, I passed out."

Edward pulled away slightly to get a better look at Roy's face. "And the bottle of gin?"

Roy grumbled and tried to push in closer to Edward to avoid the question. A firm hand on Roy's chest stopped him and if the sharp look in Ed's golden eyes wasn't enough to make him answer, he did know what would. He sighed heavily.

"It was mostly empty when I found it in the living room. Honestly, I only took one sip before I realized what I was doing." He cringed remembering the burning liquid that used to make him feel so good, causing him to cough and sputter last night. "I practically choked on it when I realized what I was doing." He reached up to rub at his throat with his long, thin fingers.

Edward was watching him with narrowed, skeptical eyes. He soon deemed the story to be true and pulled Roy close again.

After a few minutes of silence between them, Roy could feel Edward smiling against head. It was infectious and although his body felt like it had been beat to a pulp, he couldn't help but smile as well. "What is it?"

"You'll have to start your one week sober over again from today." Roy could feel Ed shaking with quiet laughter.

"What?" He nearly yelled. "But I hardly swallowed any, I swear, Edward, please."

"Those are the rules, Roy. This is what you have to do if you want me." Ed paused a second before adding, "At all."

Roy wasn't surprised one bit about having to start over. He knew that's what Edward was going to tell him once he found out what happened; intentional or not, he still drank something. Even if he hadn't done it, it was the idea that he thought he needed it to feel better. Roy simply hugged the blond around is waist and wetly kissed his neck.

"Yes, I know."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be honest, now that I've re-posted this from fanfiction.net to here, I have a renewed urge to finish writing this. I can't promise anything because I'm still waiting for my muse, but the chances that I'll finish are greater now that I've read it through again.


End file.
